


Taking responsibility

by mysaldate



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Gen, HEAVENS Appreciation Week, I have no idea how to properly call this, because i love them, might continue this some other time, so this will have to do, subtle Eiichi x Otoya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 18:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18078620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysaldate/pseuds/mysaldate
Summary: Instead of letting the Starish deal with the situation at hand, Eiichi decides to look for Otoya by himself. The decision proves beneficial in a long run - for Heavens, that is.





	Taking responsibility

**Author's Note:**

> Already wrote a short drabble on this topic about two years ago and originally just planned to translate it but I kept getting more and more ideas to add to it.   
> Written for HEAVENS appreciation week

The phone slipped out of Eiichi's hand and hit the floor. The screen cracked and went black. The rest of HEAVENS' members turned to the sudden sound, only to find their leader in what appeared to be a shocked trance. It was clear as day that something had happened. But what could it possibly be? His duet with Ittoki Otoya was a success after all. Or rather, a huge success. The song easily topped all the charts all across Japan much faster than any other of the duet project songs managed to and it didn't seem likely for the hype to fall any time soon. And yet, the very pushing force behind the song currently looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Eiichi?" His younger brother asked, worry seeping through to his lavender-coloured eyes. "Is everything alright? Who was that? What did they want?"

He didn't get an answer immediatelly It took Eiichi a while to collect his thoughts from the whirling pool they became suddenly when he got the call. Sucking in a deep breath, he travelled his eyes over his bandmates' curious faces. Even Shion seemed somehow more present-minded than usual... He wondered if this was something like what had happened back at the Shining agency just a little while ago. Thrusting a hand into his hair in a dramatic gesture, he let out a deep sigh.

"Do you remember what father had told us, Eiji?" He asked in turn, a bitter smile staining his lips. "Let's just say I may have let it drive me too far."

He only got confused looks in return but knew better than to try and explain now. There were better things he should be doing. He excused himself and promptly skipped out to the starting rain. Getting into the car, the door was suddenly held open before he could close it behind himself. Looking up, he found Yamato glaring daggers at him with Van closely behind and the rest of the band following in a slightly larger distance. He probably should had expected not to be let off the hook so easily.

The seven of them were sitting comfortably inside the limousine, listening to Eiichi's explanations. From time to time, the rest of the group would give each other an uneasy look or stir in their seats a little but they kept quiet until their, leader was done. And even then did they take a bit of time to consider everything. Yamato was the first one to speak up.

"How can you be surprised he broke down if you did that?! You can't just tell someone you've been stalking them!"

"Hyuga, calm down." Van was quick to hold him back before he could get up and go throw Eiichi a proper punch, even though he couldn't say he disagreed with anything said. It was enough that their leader seemed about ready to break down himself.

"He has a point though!" It was Nagi's turn to speak up. Unlike Hyuga, he stayed seated and didn't even sound all that angry. It was more of an objective statement than an emotional reaction. Van shot him a glare. It was true but there was no need to encourage their friend to really throw hands.

"I do feel like such a situation is the most concerning..." Shion also spoke up, even more quietly than usual, probably not wanting to recieve a scolding from Van, who finally let go of Yamato's shoulder. Van dropped back into his seat, throwing his head back with a low growl.

"Well, I'm not saying he's wrong. But I don't really feel like Eiichi would do it if he knew it was going to end up like this, you get me? He didn't do it on purpose and this sorta thing."

His words brang another wave of silence into the car. They didn't really know where they were going but somewhere apparently. And they clearly had bigger things to worry about than where was this ride going to end.

"I don't think any of us here thinks Eiichi would do something like that purposedly." Kira spoke up this time, getting a couple confirming nods. of course they wouldn't think that, they knew Eiichi better than anyone and there was nothing about him that would suggest he would willingly hurt someone, even if said someone just happened to be one of their rivals. Still, it appeared Ittoki Otoya was hurt quite a lot by what happened, be it Eiichi's stalking or just the general lack of luck in his life. For the first one, Eiichi was clearly responsible but the second one was hardly his fault. Nor could he know what would the outcome be if he made Otoya remember all of that.

At long last, it was Eiji who opened his mouth to share his opinion with his friends - right after handing Eiichi the jacket he had forgotten in his rush earlier. "It's because father was pressuring you so much, isn't it? From what I remember, you were alright giving him as much time as he needed to come to terms with the song and write a proper text but there was a rush from father's side, right?"

"Oi, don't try to make it seem like he did nothing wrong, you-!" Yamato blew up again only to be met with Eiji's determined look. He hadn't seen him like this before. Eiji sulked back into his seat and everything about him seemed somewhat small, yet his expression remained stern and firm.

"I'm not, Hyuga. All I'm trying to do is find out why did it happen the way it did. You don't know our father the way we know him and you have no idea what Eiichi had been put through simply because he's the eldest. Eiichi only does what he feels necessary to success. It's because of father's demands that he chose to shoot so high and put so many things at stake. Either way, yelling at him won't change anything so I'm trying to clear things out so that we can move on to how to solve this ordeal."

He took a deep breath, only then noticing how quickly did he blurt everything out without a single stop. It felt kind of embarrassing now but he wouldn't take back a word of what he had just said. Once again, heavy silence fell upon the group. Everyone's eyes slowly turned towards Eiichi. Surely enough he had something to say as well. After all, this whole situation was because of him. Because of his mistake. That feeling alone was what caused him to go so quiet in the first place after all. He slowly look up from his hands clasped in his lap, meeting everyone's nervous glances before burrying his face in his palms. He messed up. He messed up big time.

All of the sudden, Nagi perked up. Quickly knocking at the driver in the front of the car, he pointed somewhere up ahead. "Pull over! Pull over next to that guy over there!"

The driver did as ordered and as Nagi hurriedly rolled the window down, the rest of the group was met with familiar red hair and a dull pair of red eyes as well as with a fresh shower of the cold rain. Ittoki seemed genuinely surprised to see them there. Without any questions, Nagi pushed the car door open and Ittoki got right in, still a bit too stunned by the sudden meeting to react. Eiichi's head snapped right up upon hearing the door open and his eyes went wide, seeing as his former duet partner had no complaints about getting in with them.

Once the door and window were both closed, everyone turned to Nagi with a questioning look but he simply shrugged, instead nudging Otoya. "Hey, what do you think you're doing walking around in the rain all alone like that? Everyone's worried sick about you and you only care about strolling down the streets, looking like a lost puppy!"

Their guest stayed quiet at that, avoiding Nagi's look but his eyes soon enough travelled over all of HEAVENS till he met the vibrant violet pair of Eiichi's. He held his look before Eiichi himself looked aside. Otoya shook his head a bit.

"They're not worried about me, they're worried about the mask I put on."

Nagi was the only one who visibly cringed at that statement but even though others were slightly more careful with their reactions, it was still a little obvious they felt the same way. Another set of rather blaming looks focused on Eiichi but this time, it served to make him glare in return. He got up from his seat and approached Ittoki as well as he could under the lowered ceilling, holding his chin up carefully.

"Otoya, don't say things you don't mean seriously. You know I can see right through you."

The limousine went quiet for a split second before erupting again in loud chatter.

"Oi you! What the hell was that?!' Yamato yelled from across the car.

"Really, Ootori, that's not exactly the best thing to say." Van didn't seem like he would stop Hyuga this time if he tried to beat some sense into Eiichi's head.

"Brother, I really think you're overdoing this a bit..." Eiji also stepped in this time.

It didn't look like any of that affected the two looking at each other though. Ittoki's eyes slowly softened, tears spilling down his cheeks as he raised his hands, putting them over Eiichi's that were still clasped around his face. Even as he spoke up, it didn't sound like the crying had quite reached his voice. "Right... It's not that I think they aren't worried. It's that I don't think I can go back. I couldn't smile at them like usual and I can't possibly sing with them again. I... I don't think I'll ever be able to sing again."

"Then come back with us. Take some time off." Eiichi responded without missing a beat. Otoya gave a weak nod that drew a small smile on his face. However, he wasn't met with such a positive reaction from his friends.

"Hey, are you alright Ootori?" Van peered at him, obviously displeased. "You can't just suggest something as big as that as if it were nothing!"

"Do you have any better idea?" Eiichi responded, finally taking his eyes off Ittoki, who actually seemed kind of more lively and interested in their conversation all of the sudden. Maybe the warmth from the limousine finally got through his wet clothes.

"I have a better idea." Nagi gave a bright smile. "Let's take him back to his friends and let them worry about this instead!"

Eiichi sent him a clearly displeased look but it didn't seem to affect him at all. Pulling Otoya up by his hand and taking him back with him to his original seat, Eiichi looked at his friends, a new determination twinkling in his eyes. "You all have just agreed this was my fault. So I believe the least I can do is trying to fix it."

Ittoki almost seemed ready to say something but stayed quiet in the end. Nagi also looked about ready to give everyone a piece of his mind again when Yamato suddenly punched the seat just between himself and Van. "Damn right! You screwed this up, you better take full responsibility and see to it he gets back to normal! And if that means taking him with us and forcing him to sing his heart out until his throat hurts, then so be it!"

Seeing such enthusiasm coming from him, Nagi puffed his cheeks but didn't say anything. Eiji and Van gave each other a smile. Things were looking up again for them it seemed. Shion slowly creeped his arms around Nagi, distracting him from his previous reason to pout. And Kira simply watched after them all, making sure nobody was being left out from the sudden wave of relief that washed over them all as the gloomy atmosphere from before piece by piece disappeared. He noticed Otoya dozing off on Eiichi's shoulder and couldn't help a warm feeling spreading through his chest. Sure, this may had not been the best solution possible but it would bring some excitement to their group.


End file.
